Portable multilpe instances

[petter5]

When running multiple instances of O on the same pc using opencpn -p , I'm trying to get O to display each instance in full screen F11, but with a limited width so that each instance can be displayed "full screen" side by side on the same monitor.

Lets say if your display size is 1920 x 1200, What I want to archive is to get each instance to use 960 x 1200 of the dispaly when pressing F11 from the active O window. Could this be implemented by setting display width the same way as in config for the Android version ??

[bcn]

Originally Posted by petter5

When running multiple instances of O on the same pc using opencpn -p , I'm trying to get O to display each instance in full screen F11, but with a limited width so that each instance can be displayed "full screen" side by side on the same monitor.

Lets say if your display size is 1920 x 1200, What I want to archive is to get each instance to use 960 x 1200 of the dispaly when pressing F11 from the active O window. Could this be implemented by setting display width the same way as in config for the Android version ??

Petter,

hopefully we will see one day this feature request implemented:
FS#1292 - UI, Allow for several parallel viewports
which be a general and more flexible solution for your idea

Hubert

[seandepagnier]

Hubert,

It isn't technically difficult to implement multiple viewports (Although it would be tedious), but there are a lot of issues which are not clear.

Which viewport would the plugins use? Could they be used in either? How is this handled?

Would each viewport have a separate opencpn.config? A lot of features like toggle grid mode, quilt mode, etc.... all could differ between viewports.

Would each viewport allow different charts to be loaded?

Would we allow just two viewports, or unlimited numbers?

Which configuration options would be the same between both viewports? Obviously things like quilt mode, chart outlines etc must be different. If there are no common features, then there is not much point in implementing this (besides sharing memory buffers) as you can just run two instances.

[bcn]

Originally Posted by boat_alexandra

Which viewport would the plugins use? Could they be used in either? How is this handled?

Ideally they should be used/toggled individually: think about a radar overlay.
Or radar overlays with different ranges..

Would each viewport have a separate opencpn.config? A lot of features like toggle grid mode, quilt mode, etc.... all could differ between viewports.

Yes, that would lead to one config for each viewport

Would each viewport allow different charts to be loaded?

And different scales - one zoomed in, one overview for example.
What some people are achieving today with the portable instance.

Would we allow just two viewports, or unlimited numbers?

>2, max ? What about a multi screen environment aka "extended desktop"?

Which configuration options would be the same between both viewports? Obviously things like quilt mode, chart outlines etc must be different. If there are no common features, then there is not much point in implementing this (besides sharing memory buffers) as you can just run two instances.

Communications (NMEA with AIS etc.), routes and tracks, user created objects?
One chart directory to run against (SENC, eSENC, Texture cache)?

It's clear that this is a major effort.

Hubert

[seandepagnier]

What about the toolbar? Is there one toolbar or N? There is little point in having two man overboard buttons. For creating routes.. would you click the create route button, then you could create a route in either viewport? I think it needs to be made clear exactly how this mode would operate and work, and it should be obvious that it is worthwhile.

Really I could implement this if I wanted to, but I am not really sure the best way to do it, and it is a question of priorities. I can think of several similarly complicated tasks which would be great to implement. I would need to hear dave's opinion as well. It might mess with the code a lot. Basically a whole series of global variables would have to be put into classes, and some other tweaks done. Then separate thread per viewport. wxwidgets does not support this very will for regular painting but it should work in opengl.

Would it allow network connections to also share routes and tracks along with all nmea data? Perhaps this support should be added first, as it would be much simpler and would mostly link portable sessions, but also has the added advantage of working on separate machines over a network.

In any case I am still wanting to hear about my projections branch which I got very little feedback. Maybe the average user doesn't understand the significance but it's approximately the same amount of work as multiple viewports, but a lot more interesting, and important as it fixes serious deficiencies in opencpn (and I mean just considering mercator mode)

[petter5]

This could be done complex with a lot of features but to keep it simple in the beginning I would be quite happy just to use portable instances with a possibility to set the display witdth either from config file or from the user interface setting for each instance/ini file and be able to toggle from standard or F11 look with limited display width according to settings in ini file.

[bcn]

Originally Posted by boat_alexandra

What about the toolbar? Is there one toolbar or N? There is little point in having two man overboard buttons. For creating routes.. would you click the create route button, then you could create a route in either viewport? I think it needs to be made clear exactly how this mode would operate and work, and it should be obvious that it is worthwhile.

One toolbar, and the focus shall be on the active window/viewport.
When viewports overlap a route created in the active one shall be visible in the other(s).

Would it allow network connections to also share routes and tracks along with all nmea data? Perhaps this support should be added first, as it would be much simpler and would mostly link portable sessions, but also has the added advantage of working on separate machines over a network.

Did you have a look at SignalK? It is designed to do exactly this I think

In any case I am still wanting to hear about my projections branch which I got very little feedback. Maybe the average user doesn't understand the significance but it's approximately the same amount of work as multiple viewports, but a lot more interesting, and important as it fixes serious deficiencies in opencpn (and I mean just considering mercator mode)

Nobody will tell you what your priorities are - your fun, your decision.
Chasing bugs or ironing out deficiencies should have priority - agreeing with you. And very appreciated.

Hubert

Btw.: your neighbour island La Reunion is very nice for hiking.
As a French Oversea territory pricing (and infrastructure) are on European level though.